Kentucky Fried Pixels: Spinning out of Control with Fidget Pong

My name is Veronica Rivera and I am a Designer and Developer for Rise & Shine Games Studio. For the Second Annual Kentucky Fried Pixels Game Jam we had a blast creating a game called “Fidget Pong.” It is a 2 player game that is spinning out of control. We were inspired by the viral sensation of Fidget Spinners and wanted to make a simple but iconic game. Taking the classic game of pong with the new Fidget Spinner device.

On the team for this project is Anthony Quisenberry and Roberto Rivera. Anthony is a developer on our team behind a lot of the logic behind the game. Roberto is a local Graphic Designer and Illustrator that was behind the 3D modelling and a lot of the visual style. My role on this project has been mainly on art direction, development, and user experience. We started out with the 2-day jam to get a prototype started and have been finessing the game ever since. Recently, I volunteered with Louisville Makes Game’s Youth Program where I gave a presentation on the Game Art & Design process. I put the game on the screen for the kids in the program to try out. The game received a lot of positive feedback as well as areas of improvement.

We used the Unity platform to develop the game. VoxelShop to create the 3D models. Adobe Photoshop to design the logo and the Title Screens. The biggest challenge for us was that this was the first game our team has created with Unity, so there was a learning curve. However, sometimes a game jam is an awesome place to try out new techniques and dedicate time to complete a project. I am amazed at how versatile the program is and am looking forward to creating more projects with Unity in the future.

So please support local game developers by purchasing the Kentucky Fried Pixels 2 Bundle at KentuckyFriedPixels.com from Itch.io. Follow Louisville Makes Games on Twitter for more updates on local game development in our community.

Veronica Rivera is a Graphic Designer and Front-End Developer living in Louisville, KY. She has been a part of the Louisville Makes Games community for over a year and loves making games that are fun and colorful. She graduated in Fall 2011 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Western Kentucky University. She works full time as a Graphic/Web Designer for Jefferson County Public Schools and is a Designer and Developer for Rise & Shine Games. Drunken Boss Fight, PolyMorphic, Flip Flap, Cali Bunga, and Guppi are among the games she has helped to create. Favorite games are the Sims, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Tamagotchi, Tales of Phantasia, and Chrono Trigger. You can follow her on social media @justvcreative and Rise & Shine Games @riseshinegames.